11/07/2019 13:28
Turkish fans to propel home team to EuroVolley success – Meliha Ismailoglu
CEV EuroVolley 2019 Women
Ankara, Turkey, July 11, 2019. Turkey, one of the four host countries of CEV EuroVolley 2019 Women along with Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, will play their matches at Ankara Sports Hall – and this is where they hope to provide something to cheer about to their many passionate fans. Turkey will be trying to emulate what a previous generation of players did back in 2003 – as they won silver at another EuroVolley held on home soil.
Turkey will compete with Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, France and Finland in Pool A in their hometown.
Meliha Ismailoglu, one of the key players wearing the shirt of the “Sultans of the Net”, emphasises the importance of the home-court advantage. “We will be one of the hosts of the European Championship, which will be taking place in four countries for the first time. Of course, that is why there will be some pressure on us but I think we can cope with that. We have been playing our matches in the Grand Prix and the Nations League in Ankara for many years. Our fans never leave us alone, and they help us find our way to success. We are going to have a slight advantage because we will be playing at our own home and before the home crowd. We know that the expectations of the fans are high and we will do our best not to let them down.”
Ismailoglu stresses that Turkey will be playing some tough opponents in the pool stage. “We have really tough opponents in our group, including the he reigning European and World champions from Serbia. Therefore, I would say that we want to take it one match at a time. Our main goal is to move on to the elimination round, get to the final and win the gold medal.”
Turkey’s medal tally from EuroVolley includes silver from 2003 and bronze from the 2011 and 2017 editions.
The eventual winners of the tournament will emerge on September 8 at Ankara Sports Hall.
For further information, visit the official event website https://eurovolley.cev.eu.
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